After his state visit to Saudi Arabia on April 14, President Joko Widodo discussed a number of results of a meeting agreed between the president and Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdul Azis. One of them was an additional 10,000 hajj pilgrimage quotas. Thus the number of Indonesia hajj pilgrims is 231 thousand every year. The results of the meeting were discussed at a limited meeting he chaired at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Thursday (4/18) morning. On that occasion, the Head of State stressed the importance of decisions that must be taken by the Indonesian government in additional Hajj quota and additional Saudi Arabia investment plans in the petrochemical industry. 

"Our work visit to Saudi Arabia, firstly, is related to an additional 10 thousand quota for our prospective pilgrims. Then the second one is also related to the desire to increase Saudi Arabia's investment in Indonesia. Both of them I think we should follow up as soon as possible so that this response will be completed soon, especially the Saudi Arabian investment plan to Indonesia that was delivered yesterday, the Saudis want Indonesia to cooperate with the Saudis, and make our country a hub for the petrochemical industry in Southeast Asia, said President Joko Widodo.

Previously, President Joko Widodo and a number of working cabinet ministers paid a state visit to Saudi Arabia on Sunday (4/14). On this occasion, the Head of State met with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. They discussed the desire to increase employment bilateral cooperation, especially in terms of energy and petrochemicals. (VOI/RINI/AHM)

Vice President M Jusuf Kalla hoped that the General Election Commission (KPU) and its personnel across various regions could work honestly, fairly, transparently and well during the vote counting process.

"Yes, we are grateful that the election has run well, transparently and honestly. We also hope that KPU could (work) well, honestly, fairly and transparently," Kalla said on a private television station in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He asked all parties to help supervise the vote counting process at the respective polling stations up to the levels of sub-district, district, municipality, province, and finally at the KPU headquarters in Jakarta.

Kalla also reminded the public to accept the official results of the elections to be announced by the Commission later.

Counting of votes for legislative and presidential elections were being conducted at 809,563 polling stations (TPS) on Wednesday and Thursday (18/4). Later, a vote recapitulation will be carried out at the sub-district level from April 18 to May 4, at the district and municipality levels from April 22 to May 12, at the provincial level from April 22 to May 12, and at the KPU Headquarters from April 25 to 22 May.

Indonesia just conducted its simultaneous legislative and presidential elections across the country on April 17, 2019. The number of eligible voters is over 192 million.

The election in the world's largest archipelagic nation with over 17 thousand islands and a population of 260 million is considered the biggest and most complex in the world.  (ANTARA)

Voter turnout was estimated at 83.90 percent, according to a survey conducted by pollster Indikator Politik that conducted a quick count after millions of Indonesians flocked over 800 thousand polling stations across the country on April 17, 2019.

"We predict that the turnout was 83.90 percent," Rizka Halida, senior researcher of Indikator Politik, said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The pollster conducted a quick count of voting results at 2,976 polling stations (TPS) spread proportionally across the country, she said.

It selected TPS samples by using a stratified systematic random sampling method.

Based on the quick count results, the Joko Widodo (Jokowi)-Ma'ruf Amin pair collected 54.07 percent of votes and contender Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno collected 45.93 percent, she said.

Indikator Politik predicted that Jokowi would win the elections.

Indonesia held simultaneous legislative and presidential elections on April 17, considered to be the largest single-day democratic election in the world.  (ANTARA)

Indonesian President Joko Widodo highlighted the high level of responsibility carried out by all village heads in Indonesia, especially related to the management of Village Funds. This was conveyed by the President after giving a briefing to the Participants of the National gathering of Indonesian Village at Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Wednesday (10/4). The central government has poured some 257 trillion rupiah of village funds in the past five years. According to the President, the management of the funds gave a great responsibility to the Village Head. Therefore, the government will provide operational funds for each village head. This operational fund is intended to enable village heads to work optimally in managing and supervising the use of village funds.

“The village funds that we poured into the village are now Rp 257 trillion. This is big money. What does it mean? The village head has a big responsibility in every use of the budget in the village, for whatever. Thus, it is also necessary for village heads to control the operational funds, supervise the use of village funds in the field that can really be effective,” said the President.

Furthermore, President Joko Widodo said, the village heads would also be liable to report on the use of operational funds. However, the report is expected not to burden village heads, because it is oriented towards the successful use of village funds. Operations for the village head will still be discussed by the government. According to the President, discussion of the details of operational funds for the village head has been submitted to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. (VOI/Ndy/AHM)